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That doesn't paint a pretty picture for the future.. I guess that means that Storm Legion is the first and last expansion for Rift.. Does this mean that Rift will now go into maintenance mode? I'm sure they will toss a bone out there to keep the player base happy, but it looks like any longer term major content is done, since 1/3 of the staff were told bye bye..

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These people were singed on a contract to work only for The Storm Legion expansion. Just like swtor layed-off for swtor launch, and other games have done as well. Some times companies higher people for a specific project not to work as a career, then to lay them off.

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Originally posted by velmaxThese people were singed on a contract to work only for The Storm Legion expansion. Just like swtor layed-off for swtor launch, and other games have done as well. Some times companies higher people for a specific project not to work as a career, then to lay them off.

I can tell you didnt look at the link, because you couldnt be more wrong.

Also, Bioware laying off people was a big deal because they specifically stated they were retaining their entire team.

In fact, the only instance I can see of employees being laid off after an expansion release is LOTRO last year.

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PUBLIC INFORMATION found using google/linkedin. There is nothing not easily available tot he pbulic. Not my own research, see thread for more details. this is not the complete list, just people with public profiles.

Condolences to these employees, hopefully Rft on their resume gets them a job fast

Worked on Trion's flagship mmo title "RIFT" and it's first expansion "RIFT: The Storm Legion," creating high quality keyframe animation for characters, creatures and props. Most significant contribution is the character development, animations, and facial tattoo designs of the male Bahmi player race.

I designed, implemented, and/or enhanced a number of critical infrastructure and back-end systems that helped launch Rift in 2011. These include a crash handling service, a monitoring service to detect and restart crashed server processes, a game event logging infrastructure and log search tool. In addition, I contributed to scalability testing, and the development of server administration and customer service tools.

Copy focused on, and required in-depth knowledge of, the titles RIFT, End of Nations, and Defiance Composed and revised the manual for RIFT to coincide with the Storm Legion expansion Created and updated web copy, including banner text, news stories, and Search Engine Optimization text Transcribed videos for the purpose of subtitling and localization in foreign languages Composed marketing emails to promote upcoming features and products Contributed editorial feedback on copy pieces written by other team members

While working for Trion Worlds, I used a variety of tools including Audiokinetic Wwise to implement audio content into RIFT and RIFT: Storm Legion. I also designed sounds for creatures, props, ambience, and other effects. Other duties included mixing environment audio, tuning creature combat sounds, working with animations and scripting, and extensive troubleshooting and support for a large-scale MMO.

- Created quest content for the latter half of the Defiant storyline as well as general zone population and flavor in Ember Isle Patch 1.6 - Created zone events such as Ithkus' Rise and the Architects - Created quest content and wrote majority of text for the continent of Brevane in RIFT: Storm Legion - Created Instant Adventures and zone events for the continent of Brevane

Created systems for gameplay on RIFT and its first expansion, Storm Legion, from its early pre-alpha stages through release, then support of the live product.

• Designed and maintained ownership of the Cleric class (calling) and its 9 individual subclasses (souls). Used internal evaluations, player feedback, and user metric data to aggressively improve both the quality of gameplay and overall balance within the greater scope of the game.

• Built detailed spreadsheets and simulations, collaborating with the Lead Designer and other class designers, to maintain the integrity and balance of the game despite constant changes.

• Created the tools and systems used to make NPCs, greatly speeding up monster creation and eliminating common bugs and mistakes made via the old process.

• Built all standard monster AI and abilities used at Release to provide fun and varied combat.

• Made numerous tools and scripts used in the creation of abilities and class-related systems, automating and/or simplifying many long, tedious, and error-prone tasks.

• Served as a frequent trainer, mentor, and troubleshooter of abilities and monsters.

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Not to seem unsympathetic, but doesn't this consistantly happen with every title, every time they release a game or expansion?

Anyhow, I hope that all the people affected have a chance to take a great holiday with their family and enjoy some well-earned time off before they get to work on another project. I'm also hoping that the people affected have this as a financial viability.

All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.

I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.

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Originally posted by Rydeson That doesn't paint a pretty picture for the future.. I guess that means that Storm Legion is the first and last expansion for Rift.. Does this mean that Rift will now go into maintenance mode? I'm sure they will toss a bone out there to keep the player base happy, but it looks like any longer term major content is done, since 1/3 of the staff were told bye bye..

Hmm. I'm not sure you or a lot of folks in this thread know how the industry works.

MMO development, for the most part, is a contract job.

There are a few permanent employees of a studio, but only a few.

When the studio has a project. It hires people on contract to complete the work. When the work is finished, the contract ends.

Thus, what would you expect from a studio that just finished and released an expansion, an expansion that is larger than the original game I might add?

Well, I would expect quite a few contracts would come to an end.

I'm not saying that Rift/storm legion is doing as well as hoped. I'm not saying that they aren't having issues.

But they are developing a game which works in conjunction with a television series on a station which specifically targets the demographics for this genre.

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Originally posted by Alyviantrion world employs more as 500 people, will just leave it at that.

You sure about that? I tried looking up their employee base and found nothing.

I highly doubt they employ anywhere near that many people. Blizzard maybe, but Trion Worlds? Gimme a break. There might be like 25 permanent people tops; everything else is contract work.

They just laid off a bunch of people because they just finished Storm Legion. And thus, ended the contracts which were hired to create Storm Legion. This is how the industry works.

You have no proof they employ 500+ people. You have no proof they laid them off because of Obamacare or tax hikes, which is what you are implying. What you are implying isn't mathmatically possible or probable. You are a tool of the conservative propaganda machine.

I will just leave it at that.

edit: 25 is definately way under the mark. I re-read the article and it is quite clear that Rift alone 'had' around 120, down to around 80. Their new game may have a hefty staff though - due to its development and scope. So I'll concede they 'may' have 500 total employees.

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Originally posted by Zorgo

Originally posted by Rydeson That doesn't paint a pretty picture for the future.. I guess that means that Storm Legion is the first and last expansion for Rift.. Does this mean that Rift will now go into maintenance mode? I'm sure they will toss a bone out there to keep the player base happy, but it looks like any longer term major content is done, since 1/3 of the staff were told bye bye..

Hmm. I'm not sure you or a lot of folks in this thread know how the industry works.

MMO development, for the most part, is a contract job.

There are a few permanent employees of a studio, but only a few.

When the studio has a project. It hires people on contract to complete the work. When the work is finished, the contract ends.

Thus, what would you expect from a studio that just finished and released an expansion, an expansion that is larger than the original game I might add?

Well, I would expect quite a few contracts would come to an end.

I'm not saying that Rift/storm legion is doing as well as hoped. I'm not saying that they aren't having issues.

But they are developing a game which works in conjunction with a television series on a station which specifically targets the demographics for this genre.

Have you even read the info? Sure, there were a couple contract guys scattered in there...but many people who have been with the company since day 1 were let go. The guy that created and maintained one of the 4 classes was let go.

ANyone who says this is standard is pretty clueless as to both the situation and the industry. Contract workers being let go isnt news, its not layoffs, it just happens and no one says a word about. Something like this is HUGE, for a game to let go this many longer term, quality people. And this is just people with public profiles, and not even all of them. Add in the rest + the ones with private profiles or the ones that use different methods than linkedin (artists for instance have better tools for employment searches).

And hiring at their San Diego office? Any good company is ALWAYS hiring, even if they only have one employee other than the owner. If the right candidate comes along, the owner would be foolish not to consider them over what he already has. Hiring does not always mean adding positions.

The sky isnt falling but its certainly cracked. And its more than likely End of Nation's fault, not Rift's. But Rift has clearly paid the price.